Stanfield, Norfolk

Stanfield is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of 3.80km2 and had a population of 162 in 2011, and 144 at the 2001 census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of Breckland. Stanfield belongs to the Parliamentary Constituency of Mid-Norfolk and is currently governed by George Freeman as their Member of Parliament who is representative of the Conservative Party.HistoryThe name Stanfield translates to 'stony open land'. It derived from the Anglo-Saxon word 'stan' meaning stone or rock and 'feld' which means 'open country' or 'unencumbered ground'. In Northern nations, stones were placed to serve as boundary marks. It was also placed on memorials to be able to distinguish those who had fought in battle, which then became practised by Odin as an act of sacred duty. The word 'stein' is a personal name in the Domesday Book, in which this village used to be recognised as 'Stanfelda'.In the years 1870 to 1872, John Marius Wilson described Stanfield as:"a parish in Mitford District, Norfolk; 3 and a half miles W by S Elham R. station."The church of St. MargaretStanfield's local parish is St. Margaret's, it is a Grade l listed parish. It is situated 8 km south of Fakenham and falls within the Brackland Local Government District. The area surrounding the parish is mostly agricultural, as well as the parish acquiring an area of 378 hectares and accommodates the small town of Stanfield. According to William White's historical writing of Stanfield, the church is "a neat building, consisting of a nave, chancel, south porch and square tower with four bells." This may indicate that this type of flint building dates back to the Late Saxon or early Norman period. Furthermore, the parish was no exempt from alterations as in 1864, perpendicular style square windows in the nave and also the east window were added to preserve its early English style.